


Just a Kid

by pagesofwrittenwings



Series: These Damn Kids [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, How Do I Tag, Pain, Parental Roy Mustang, Possibly OOC, Pre-Canon, SO, Sickfic, Somewhat, Sorry Not Sorry, Vomiting, after edward became an alchemist, because i live for those, but i watched this anime and, first time writing fanfiction in years, he realizes edward is a kid, incorrect medical knowledge, probably, this kept floating around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-04-05 10:57:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14042769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pagesofwrittenwings/pseuds/pagesofwrittenwings
Summary: It has only been a couple days since Edward Elric made history by becoming the youngest State Alchemist. But after missing  work for just as long, Colonel Roy Mustang is about to personally make sure he make history again by being the youngest State Alchemist to die as well. But seeing something in Edward's hotel room makes him stop him in his tracks and remind himselfGod, he's just a kid





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I just finished FMAB for the first time and am already watching it again lol. But as I'm watching little moments keep popping up where I sit back and realize that ed and al are really just kids doing all of this stuff. Like the great "my brother's a big fat idiot" scene, or the aftermath of the Promised Day. And I was just thinking, what are the people around the Elrics' thinking when they see this?
> 
> This fic is based off of the scene where Ed and Pinako are digging up his mother's grave and he starts to throw up from the pain of his injuries/his stumps in the rain. What if that wasn't the first time something like that had happened? What if someone else found Ed sick, scared, and curled up in pain unable to move? How would they react?
> 
> Well, here's Mustang finding out

Roy Mustang threw open the hotel doors. A flash of lightning followed by a loud clap of thunder combined with the deep dark glare set on his face scared away anyone from admonishing him about his action. He could hear a couple of the hotel’s guests whisper amongst themselves about why would one of the State Alchemists be there, especially the infamous Flame Alchemist, Hero of the Ishvalan War? Should they leave now or wait for the inevitable explosion?. He ignored them as he strode up the the front desk to where a terrified attendant sat.

“Where,” he almost growled, “is the Fullmetal Alchemist’s room?” While it might have only been a day or two since the elder Elric became a State Alchemist, news spread fast when the new Major was a twelve-year old child.

“R-Room 235 Colonel Mustang.” The young girl stammered, her blue eyes swimming with frightened tears.

Roy nodded sternly, swiftly turning around. As he neared the stairs he heard the young girl speak up once more.

“S-should I phone him sir? Allow him time to g-get ready for your arrival?”

‘No you will not,’ He wanted to bark out, but he stopped himself. This wasn’t some new soldier asking for time off when it wasn’t deserved or a certain blonde well-meaning Lieutenant offering to go in his place in this instance. After all, this young woman was in the hospitality business and it made perfect sense for her to call up to a guest when someone was looking for them. Especially if it was a military official. Stopping to take a deep breath, he turned around and flashed the most genuine smile he could, shocking those around him with such a 180 turn  in his demeanor.

“Oh no that won’t be necessary. I thank you for your assistance though, it has been a great help.” He replied in an almost jovial tone.

With that he hurried up the stairs, leaving everyone in a confused state.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As the Flame Alchemist neared the room he tried to keep a calm head. He knew that approaching this with anger would just make things worse, but it was very difficult to do so. He had wanted the kid working with him under the impression that an alchemist prodigy like that with his team would help in the long run with his ambitions to become Fuhrer, but damn he wasn’t expecting it to e this difficult. Aside from the standard temper tantrums to expect from a kid being bossed around by adults who saw him as a kid, and an exceptionally memorable one when Edward found out all of the military uniforms were far too large for his small frame-

_‘Don’t call me SMALL dammit!!! I’ll take all of you on!’ The boy screamed as he threw a surprising amount of heavy and large objects around like they were playthings, including other officers._

-the Fullmetal Alchemist really hadn’t been that hard to deal with. In fact Mustang could admit it was sometimes fun watching him beat everyone’s expectations on what he could do and his determination in his downtime on researching everything he could on getting him and his brother’s bodies back. Hell, even the day before Edward had single handedly rebuilt an entire building after a drunk motorist crashed into a weak part in the structure and brought it crashing down. And the Colonel could also admit he was interested in just how Edward was able to preform his type of alchemy. 

But there were other times, like today, where Mustang wondered if it was all worth it.

The Colonel would be the first to admit that paperwork wasn’t something he liked to do, especially when it came to the mountain that had to be filled out for a new Alchemist. But dammit it needed to be done, and being forced to do the majority of it just because his subordinate decided to just play hooky was unbelievably irritating. Combine a small skirmish with a rogue Alchemist with a sudden storm coming in and soaking everyone to their bones, making him useless and you could say his irritation went to full-blown anger. But what had really tipped him over the edge to seething was when he finally found out where Edward had been all day.

His hotel room.

His bed.

All this time, this alchemist prodigy who argued with anybody and everybody to be taken seriously, who swore that he wouldn’t stop until he fixed the mistake he and his brother had done, who not only committed the ultimate Taboo but also _bound his little brother's soul to a piece of armor as he slowly bled out,_ someone many soldiers could barely believe actually existed had just decided to skip and sleep in all day after only one day of work?!?! Making Mustang look like a fool for offering the job in the first place! No, that would simply not stand.

With a heavy hand he banged a knock against the door. “Fullmetal! Open the door now! That is an order from your superior officer.”

Nothing.

“Fullmetal!”

Still nothing.

Mustang ground his teeth and mentally calculated the cost of destroying a door and possibly the wall if the brat didn’t o-

_“H-help….”_ A voice barely sounded from behind the door. 

    The man froze, barely believing what he heard. Was that…? No..couldn’t be..

_“Colonel...please.”_

    With a swift kick the door was wide open and Roy Mustang quickly brought a hand up to his nose to try and block the overwhelming smell of bile. Gagging he stepped into the room and was horrified by the sight that greeted him.

Edward Elric was curled up in his bed, his eyes holding almost no emotion. His clothes, the bed, floor, even his hair was covered in what seemed to be everything he ate in the past couple days. Why the boy hadn’t moved out of his mess Mustang couldn’t truly say, but by the tight grip on his right arm, along with how much effort he was trying to not move his left leg, the older man could harbor a guess. While Mustang was still overcoming the shock of the sight in front of him, a cough rattled its way through the boy’s body, followed by a weak whimper and a clench of his left hand on his stomach. For a moment the boy’s eyes came alive, fear and pain taking over while his body tensed up for a few seconds before whatever it was passed, Edward relaxed-no, fell back into his bed shivering from the feeling of the draft of the hallway swept through the room. Despite the shiver Mustang could feel the heat radiation from the boy’s body from where he stood. 

“E-Edward...what..?” The young Colonel found himself at a true loss for words.

“Please...it hurts Colonel..” Edward whispered, before his eyes fell shut.

And Roy Mustang realized for the first time in years that he was way over his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While waiting for Edward's room to be cleaned, Roy takes the young man to his home since it was close to the hotel. There he finds out why Edward didn't let anyone know he was sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow I was not expecting this kind of response at all! I was sure my little fic would be lost amongst all of the other fics. Thank you so much! Like it said in the tags it's been a while since I last wrote any fic. I think it might've been my 8th grade and now I'm almost twenty haha
> 
> Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, work has been crazy since there are only two managers where I work (including me) and one of my dogs passed away from old age. Hopefully the next chapter will be out a lot sooner! Especially since I've been rewatching this show since my best friend's younger sister is now watching it
> 
> Well enough of my rambling, let's get on with the show!

Roy Mustang prided himself on the fact that he had the talent of hiding his emotions. That while his fellow soldiers were unable to keep their tears in check after seeing the horrible atrocities of Ishval, unable to stand their ground due to what they were asked to do by their superiors, Roy Mustang stood firm. He put on his gloves, snapped his fingers where ever he was pointed and would then sit down and eat with his fellow soldiers within the same hour. He had even overheard some of the others whisper if he was even human, with how little emotion they truly saw from him. It hurt, he wouldn’t lie, that people thought so little of him.

But even Roy couldn’t keep the horror off of his face as he watched his new subordinate dry heave over the toilet, the Colonel’s once pristine white gloves now stained a light beige from the bile still in the long, dirty blonde hair. Roy had been helping the young man get into the bathtub to help wash the sick off of him when another bout of nausea hit. Roy had been holding the newly made red jacket for the young Alchemist when the retching sounds began and had enough time to carelessly drop it to the floor before falling to his knees behind Edward.

He rubbed the younger man’s back trying to give some kind of comfort, desperately searching for the proper words to say. While there had been many men and women on the battlefield who had thrown up from the atrocities they had to perform or due to injuries there had always been medics who could come and take care of them. All Roy had ever had to really do was stay by the soldiers long enough to keep them alive, and by the time he was able to go and see them in the medical tents they were resting and better. But now there was no medic rushing in, no one shouting out orders for medical supplies. All of the responsibility rested on his shoulders. The awful retching sounds continued for a minute before finally stopping. Exhausted the young Alchemist laid his head down on the toilet seat.

“You think you’re done for now Edward?” Roy asked softly, flushing away what little the young man-kid he reminded himself-had been able to get out of his stomach.

“I-” Edward croaked, before clearing his throat, “I think so.” 

Roy winced from the raspiness in his voice, before nodding. Standing up, he helped the Fullmetal Alchemist stand on wobbly legs before setting him down back on the toilet. Wetting one of the complimentary washcloths by the sink the man started washing off Edward’s face, grabbing the boy’s chin as he did so once Edward starting to turn his head.

“Will you stop!” The Colonel barked, before pausing at the sight of tears in the younger man’s eyes. 

“S-Stop you bastard,” Ed weakly whispered, hastily wiping away the few tears that had managed to fall before continuing, “Just leave me alone..” 

“No Fullmetal I will not. As your commanding officer it is my duty to-”

“I said leave me the HELL alone you bastard!”

That outburst led Edward to having a coughing fit from the exertion on his weak body, which then went directly to painful dry heaving, worsened now that there was absolutely nothing left in his stomach. Roy immediately stepped back before cursing at himself and his subordinate before taking a breath and standing to the side of the younger man. While he doubted anything would come up, he turned Edward’s head towards the sink and waited for the attack to pass. Mercifully it was a short one. Once the shaking of the boy’s body stopped, Roy picked up the washcloth and repeated what he had before. This time Edward seemed to realize he was stuck with the situation and kept his mouth shut, though Roy could feel his jaw tighten.

“Listen, this isn’t exactly my plan to a perfect evening either, but until they’re done cleaning your room we’re stuck with each other.”

“You could’ve just gotten me another room…” the kid grumbled.

Shocked, The Flame Alchemist stared at the boy. He stood there speechless for several minutes, leaving the damp washcloth on the young Alchemist’s cheek long enough for the blonde to stare up at him with a confused look. Ed even tried to raise his right arm to wave his fingers in the colonel’s face but the ache in his stump stopped the action. The wince that flashed across his face brought Roy out from his trance and his grip on the boy’s face tightened a fraction, bringing the boy’s attention back to him.

“Just get you another room?” Roy muttered, before raising his voice, “JUST GET YOU ANOTHER ROOM?! Are you purposefully being dense or are you as much of an idiot like everyone claims!”

“He-”

“No Edward!” The harsh tone stopped the young Alchemist in his tracks. “You need to grow the hell up and listen to me! I might not fully understand what brought this on, and I won’t dare to pretend to understand the weight that is resting on your shoulders, but dammit Edward you have to take better care of yourself! Just because you’re smart and advanced enough in Alchemy to accomplish what you have doesn’t mean you’re immune and can’t die from an illness! Furthermore why didn’t you contact me or Lieutenant Hawkeye? Once you saw how bad it wa-”

“What, so you could yell at me some more?! Tell me that I made yet another mistake? As if I didn’t know that already!” Ed shouted back, a surge of strength taking over him letting him stand up. Suddenly the spacious bathroom seemed like a broom closet.

“Fullm-”

“No dammit! From the moment you met me you bastard you have been judging me for what we did. Every time you look at me or Al, every time I perform alchemy, every time I move a muscle without asking for your damn permission! And you know what I’m sick of it! We lost our mother and I just wanted to see her again, wanted to hear her voice and because of that my little brother lost his BODY! And it didn’t even work!”

Roy was speechless throughout the speech and wasn’t prepared for the slap that came. The older man stumbled into the wall, his hand going up to his cheek in shock, barely having the thought process to thank whoever was in charge of the universe that the younger man had used his left arm instead of his right. But almost immediately anger took over the shock. Roy turned his head back to the blonde, ready to berate him, illness be damned, but was stopped by the tears sliding down his the younger man’s face. 

“We went through Hell, lost everything, and it didn’t even work...He can’t sleep or eat and it’s all my damn fault! And then you come in, screaming at me about what I did before offering me a way to save him. So I pushed myself to get here, to be able to research everything there is to know about alchemy, dealing with stupid adults breathing down my neck who are watching and judging every damn move I make…”

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by more coughing racking from the boy’s body. The horrible, wet sound that accompanied each cough worried the older man, but when he tried to reach out and help the younger man pushed past him and rushed out of the bathroom. Or at least he tried to. As if in slow motion Roy watched as Edward tripped over the edge of his long, red jacket, before falling face down on the hardwood floor.

“Edward!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there you go. Hope it was worth the wait :D
> 
> In all honesty, I'm not a 100% happy with this chapter, but every time I adjusted something I found more issues and didn't want a lot of runon sentences, so this is the final product. Next time there will be a shift in POV as well, so that'll be fun haha
> 
> Oh! And if any of you are Supernatural fans or are interested in reading more fics by me, me and my friend are co-writing one on this account! Hell even if you don't watch Supernatural you can read it because it is not following current canon at all. We had a lot of fun writing it and I'm in charge of the next chapter for it.
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked it or if you have some constructive critiscm. I'll try to reply to everyone that I can :)
> 
> Until next time...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy alerts people of Ed's condition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm baaack!
> 
> Again sorry this took so long to get out. Work got crazy for a while there, but now I have a Store Manager, who's said that he's going to try and make sure that I get my 2-3 days off a week so I should have more time to write. fingers crossed! Trust me I have someone who asks me all the time when the next chapter is coming out. And I do have the next chapter started, so I'm hoping for within the next two weeks
> 
> This chapter didn't turn out the way that I had it planned, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Don't worry Riza fans there will be more from her POV in the next chapter, but I couldn't write more without it feeling like it was dragging on too much. And i hope I did her and the other characters justice!

There wasn’t a lot that could piss off Riza Hawkeye. Or at least, there wasn’t a lot that could piss her off enough to outwardly show it; not after her many years of hiding her emotions from others. Her father, after all, had never truly seemed to care on what she did or wanted. After all, the fact that he was willing to give her a permanent tattoo dictating his notes on Flame Alchemy, had forever marred her body with his research due to his own paranoia and growing horror of what he had created. And once her military career started she had to keep up the stoic face of a sniper, stopping any reaction from the comments made about her, whether it be because of her sex or because she followed Roy Mustang. 

That man, she later found, was an amazing leader to follow because he remembered little things about his team’s lives. He even was able to admit when he was in the wrong or if he reacted too harshly. A prime example being when they found out what happened to the Elric brothers. She still remembered the moment he realized what they had done, and the price they paid.

_(‘What did you do?!’ Colonel Mustang screamed in the boy’s face, rage pouring out of him and making his muscles tense. The young child just stared at him wordlessly, before the silence was broken by a strange piece of armor resting its hand on the man’s arm and an echoing voice emerging from its depths._

_‘We’re sorry...we didn’t mean it...We’re sorry..’ Soft apologies continued to come out of the armor._

_A couple beats passed, before recognition passed over the Colonel’s face. He stared at the armor before asking, ‘Wait are you..’_

_And in that moment Riza Hawkeye, even with her limited knowledge of Alchemy, realized what happened in the basement of the Elric house.)_

The fact that Roy was able to quickly calm himself down and offer a possible way out of the mess the boys landed in, despite them breaking the one major rule in Alchemy, proved that she had chosen the right man to follow into Hell. Even if she had to keep on top of the paperwork that landed on his desk.

So when she was woken up in the middle of the night after getting an hour’s sleep by her ringing telephone by that same man, after she had spent hours finishing up his paperwork and organizing said paperwork he had abandoned when he had rushed out of the office once there was news of the whereabouts on a certain young subordinate, she didn’t say what she wanted to say. She didn’t berate him for what time it was, she didn’t curse at him even though she wanted to. Even after she hung up and the only one who could attest to her losing her composure was the small puppy she had recently taken it, she didn’t scream in frustration and exhaustion from having to leave her warm, comfortable, _inviting_ bed. Instead, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye got out of bed, dressed in her military uniform, double checked that her weapons were loaded- _never be too comfortable, never assume safety_ -before leaving her apartment and going to the address she had been told.

It was only after she left that she realized what the address was, and her pace increased. What had the idiot done to land him in the hospital in the middle of the night?

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Though he tries not to mention it to his brother, Granny, or Winry, there were some things that Alphonse Elric missed from having his body. Eating Granny’s stew, being able to run from place to place with his friends and actually get _tired_ , or even just getting dirty just for the sake of getting dirty because that’s what kids were supposed to do. At least, according to his older brother. And when Alphonse was younger that’s all it took for him to do what his brother said. Of course, it always was his fault as to why they were covered in mud and had twigs in their hair once their mother saw them running up the hill. Trisha Elric would just shake her head fondly before ushering both of them in before ushering them in to be bathed. Afterwards the little family’s daily routine would begin. 

Dinner would be served, accompanied with the never ending fight between Ed and the customary bottle of milk before his bath, getting a bedtime story, and closing his eyes before drifting off. That was another thing that he missed, sleeping. He missed the dreams where he was able to eat as much as he wanted, where him and is brother were kings in a distant land, or where he lived in a ginormous house where he was able to own as many cats as he wanted. That dream as always his favorite. 

He even missed his nightmares. Ones that made him scream and jerk out of bed in the middle of the night, his heart thundering out of his chest like it would leap out if it wasn’t held back by skin and muscle. Of course the true reasons he missed those terrors was because of what would happen afterwards. His mother bustling in and seeing Ed wrapping an arm around his little brother, her holding both of her children close to her before taking the time to make hot chocolate as he told her of what the nightmare was like and what caused the fear behind it. Sometimes she would even let them crawl back into bed with her! Those were his favorite nights, where Alphonse and Edward would curl up on both sides of their mother and she would stoke their hair, humming a song that always seemed to calm them down no matter what happened. What he wouldn’t give-

_Brrinnng. Brrinng._

Alphonse jerked his head up, the metal creaking slightly. He turned towards the wall where the only phone the Rockbell’s owned was hung up. ‘Who would be calling at this hour?’ Al wondered as he got up from his chosen chair to wait the nighttime away, setting his new book that Winry had picked up for him from the market about some cheesy romance. He _thunked thunked thunked_ over to the ringing phone, picking it up and bringing it up to his head.

“Hello?” He asked, trying to keep his voice low in hopes of allowing the rest of the household asleep. But as the other person on the phone began to speak he could hear the wood creaking as Granny got up to investigate the noise. 

“Oh hello Colonel. No...I was already awake. Why are you calling at this hour?” Al questioned, seeing Granny come down the stairs and Winry’s feet descending behind her. But the next words that filtered through stopped him cold. 

“What did you just say?!” he yelled, shocking the two in front of him. Al, despite his circumstances, vary rarely yelled. Definitely not when he was speaking to an adult.

“What do you mean my brother is in the hospital?!”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_‘Everything always happens in the middle of the damn night apparently’_ Pinako Rockbell thought to herself as she exited the train car, holding tightly to her young granddaughter’s hand as she did so. She felt more than saw the big hulking shape behind her that alerted her Alphonse was following closely. Due to the late hour, or early morning by this point honestly, the trio didn’t feel awkward stopping in front of the train car doors while they resettled themselves. This also allowed the children to take a awe-filled look at the huge Central City train station. Pinako, while she would admit the building was beautiful, was lost in her own thoughts.

After all, she remembered, her own son had decided to come out into the world during the middle of the night despite the due date being a week away. As had Winry, though her birth had been much quicker and quieter then her father’s. Those damn military officials tasked with giving her the worst news possible, why their knock sounded right as she was going to sleep, her menu for the dinner planned return for her son and his wife’s return once the War was over! And the third day of October would haunt her for the rest of her days….

“Granny?”

The small voice broke through her thoughts, and Pinako shook her head to completely get rid of them. Looking down, before glancing back up-damn shrinking with age-she saw Winry looking at her with big blue eyes. 

“Are we waiting for the Colonel or Lieutenant Riza to come get us?” The young girl asked, glancing around the almost empty train station to see if she could see someone in the telltale blue uniform.

“Well,” Al spoke, the first words he had said since they left the house after the shocking phone call, “Colonel Mustang claimed that he was going to see about sending over someone from the military that he trusted, and who would stand out. But if they weren’t here by the time we arrived to just go to the hospital. He claimed it was very urgent.”

“Luckily I know the way.” Pinako drawled, immediately turning towards the right exit and heading towards it, the loud steps of Alphonse echoing behind her. “Besides, the day I trust one of those damn dogs is the day they put me in my grave.” She muttered.

The children nervously glanced at each other, but wisely remained silent as they followed the older woman as they left the train station. So silent, in fact, that if it weren’t for the ever present creaking and _thunk thunk_ of Alphonse’s movements or the tight grip on her right hand she might have forgotten they were there. She looked around the streets but wasn’t really surprised by the lack of taxis. Even in a busy city like Central there was most likely not a lot of people just wandering around this close to dawn. Pinako didn’t let that stop her and she continued on her way, following the path and keeping an eye out for memorable landmarks that had somehow stuck around in the past few years.

“Hey Granny?” Came that same small voice.

“Yes Winry?”  
.  
“How do you know the way to the Central City hospital? I thought our house was where everyone went for help, or go to East City’s hospital?”

“Well,” the older woman began, feeling a small lump in her throat attempt to grow in her throat, “After your parents died in the war they were sent to Central hospital with the rest of the soldiers, so that the military had all of the paperwork filled out correctly. Do you remember how you had to spend a couple night’s with the neighbor’s next door before your parent’s funeral?” A small, wet sounding gasp came from the young girl, which always happened whenever Pinako talked about the late father and mother, accompanied by a nod. Pinako squeezed the girl’s hand in hopes of comforting her, but continued with her story. “I had to come up to this damn city to bring them home. Then I had to come back once they found all of your parent’s keepsakes once the War was over. Those trips and building have been stuck in my brain ever since.”

After Pinako’s answer the small group continued the next few minutes in silence, though just as soon as she could see the medical facility up ahead another voice spoke up.

“Granny?”Alphonse asked.

“Yes Al?”

“Do...Do you think Brother will be alright?”

Pinako thought on her answer, slowing to a stop in front of the steps of the hospital. She thought of the frantic explanation Al had given for the late phone call ( _‘Brother’s sick-hospital, Granny we have to go!_ ’) and thought of the resilient look that had become present in Ed’s eyes after that first visit from the Colonel, his promise to hurry through the standard healing process for his automail so that he could become a State Alchemist. And wondered just how bad the idiot had to be to get himself admitted to the hospital.

“Well, let’s go find out what he’s gotten himself into this time.”

 

With that Pinako led the two into the hospital and took no time getting a nurse to help them find the boy’s room. At first they refused to let the small family go to see Edward, citing the fact that visitor’s hours wouldn’t be starting for a long while. Pinako was about to tell the nurses where exactly they could shove the visitor’s hours, when a certain Lieutenant arrived.

“This is the Fullmetal Alchemist’s family. As I’m sure you know there have been direct orders from the military to allow them to visit the Major once they arrive. Do you want to be known for disobeying the military?”

Needless to say they soon had a young nurse escorting them to Edward’s room. Walking down the hallways Pinako listened to Lieutenant as she talked about the events that led to the hospital admittance, while Winry tried to ignore the strange looks their companion was getting, which the person in question seemed completely oblivious to. Al instead was focusing on looking into every doorway they walked by, as if his brother was just going to jump out and surprise them, or be lying down somewhere just waiting for their arrival. Eventually the nurse stopped by the door to one of the rooms that had a chart hanging from a place in the wall.

“Please be quiet. We had to sedate him once he arrived so that he could get some rest but he is still very weak. Please call one of us if he begins to wake.” With her orders completed the nurse left, going to help the rest of the nurses begin the start of the hospital day.

Pinako watched the young lady leave, hearing the Lieutenant’s quiet warning of how Ed would look in the hospital bed, before she opened the door. Stepping back the blonde woman waited as they filtered through, before closing the door behind them to keep guard, as she had been doing before the group arrived. Once the door had closed Pinako turned to look around the room.

It was a modest single room, with a couple tasteful paintings depicting landscaped and a map of Amestris on the walls. Combined with the cream paint and hardwood floors, along with the plain white cotton curtains on the single window, the room gave off a cozy but formal feel. There were a couple chairs set near the bed, once that was occupied by a fast asleep Colonel Mustang, though his hands were covered with his telltale transmutation gloves, one of which laid on his service weapon, speaking to his readiness if something were to come up. And in the bed next to him….

 

“Oh Ed...look at what happened to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Please comment or give kudos if you are able to :)
> 
> Please let me know if there are any typos!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pinako takes over, there's screaming, and finally a damn explanation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this, a new chapter in a week?? Say it isn't so!
> 
> But yes, I somehow managed to actually write a new chapter after I finished the last one. And I think that this story is close to the end. I'm only imagining a couple more chapters before it starts to drag on. Plus I have a couple ideas for some new fics to make a series, with this story being the first part. Most of the stories will really be standalone with the main theme being 'God these are kids why are they having to put up with this shit' but I may or may not continue this story as well. But we'll have to see. After all, why count all my chickens right?
> 
> Also, if it does take some time for the next chapter I'm sorry. One of my fellow managers got into a car wreck this past weekend. She's alive and didn't get any really serious injuries, thank gods, but she's going to take it a little easy for the next couple weeks so I won't have time to write. Hopefully though I should have the next chapter up by the end of the month.
> 
> This chapter is also where the 'incorrect medical knowledge' tag comes in. I pretty much googled stuff and then went from there, so sorry if there are any actual medical people who read this and you hate me lol
> 
> Well, without a further ado, here's the hospital room!

By all accounts, Edward Elric had always been a small kid. Born two weeks early, which his mother had teasingly said years later was her first warning of her son’s impulsive behavior, and his long-standing hatred of a certain dairy product always kept him just a few inches shorter than the other kids on his class. Once Al had been born anyone Ed talked to heard about how _he_ was the older, bigger brother. But that dream was shattered once the baby started to walk and grow, and Ed noticed that looking down at Al was becoming something that he was doing less and less. 

But as far as Alphonse was concerned, his brother never looked smaller than right now, in his hospital bed. Standing at a little bit over seven feet he was used to being the tallest person in..well, _any_ room, but taking a glance at Granny and Winry he could tell that they thought the same.

There were a couple wires connected to the IV stand next to his bed that disappeared beneath the small mountain of blankets, steadily dripping some fluids and medicine into the unconscious boy. His breathing was labored and heavy. His blonde hair was out of his signature braid and fanned out onto the pillow. Ed’s skin was pale with little beads of sweat dotting his forehead, and a shiver caused a couple of the droplets to fall down his face and into his hair, which also shifted the blankets down his body. Before Al could react Granny moved forward, grabbing a towel laying on the plate from the wash basin that was resting on the small wooden counter situated next to the bed. Methodically she dipped the towel into the water and used it to wipe away the sweat. Once she was done she wrung out the towel before placing the towel flat on the table to dry.

“Granny?” Winry asked.

But the woman in question just ignored the girl, choosing instead to fluff up the pillows so that Ed’s head was better supported. Once they were to her satisfaction she re-situated, the blankets were next on her agenda. Grasping the linen she pulled it off of Ed, shocking the other two inhabitants as she unceremoniously dumped the sweaty and used blankets next to the door. Done with her task, she turned and glanced around the room, before setting her determined gaze on a cabinet that had been put off to the side, as if whoever had designed the room had forgotten about it and just threw it in. Alphonse glanced over at Winry, and shared a confused shrug.

“Al!”

The boy jumped at being called, lowering his gaze to meet the older woman’s. "Y-yes Granny?”

“Come here, I can’t reach the blankets that Ed needs.” Granny requested. 

“Oh, yes Granny!” Al spoke, his voice echoing out louder than he was planning. Winry shushed him quickly, glaring at him even as she looked for any signs of Ed waking, which of course he didn’t. _‘Really Winry, not even a storm can wake Ed on a good day, let alone when he is sick.’_

“Winry, I want you to go with the Lieutenant and find Ed’s doctor. We’ve been here long enough without someone telling me what is wrong with him. And Al, get over here already!” 

“Yes Granny!” They both answered before splitting off to their ordered places. Winry left the room with a near silent _click_ as Alphonse made his way over to the cabinet. He inwardly winced at the loud noises his armor made with every movement, and despite his earlier thought Al couldn’t help keeping an eye on his slumbering brother.

“Here Al, grab those two on top. They’re thick enough to help Ed sweat out that fever of his, but not give him a damn heat stroke.”

Al nodded. It was a little known fact about Ed that his temperature always ran a little hotter than everyone else, always had since he was a child, and no one was really sure as to why. It had been something so known to almost everyone in Resombool it was never talked about, but he guessed since it was never spoken of they forgot to make a note of it when Ed left to get his title. Al’s earliest memories were of walking up to Ed’s bed in the middle of the night after he had a nightmare, or the annual storms rolled in causing the wind to change from a comforting whorl to freezing screams and the sky would light up with booming thunder.

_(‘Big brother?’ Al whispered, his voice small and scared. Another loud boom sounded, causing the small boy to clutch his blanket and teddy close._

_‘Hmm?’ Ed sleepily hummed._

_‘C-can I sleep with you?’_

_Edward didn’t say anything, so used to this that he just moved over to the other side of his bed, lifting the sheet. Al would scramble in before settling in to a comfortable position, knowing that no matter what loud noise there was Ed would keep him safe. That’s what his mother always told him after all.)_

Al would then wake up with Ed doing his best impression of an octopus and sweat rolling down his back. Their mother would always joke to everyone in Resembool that it was just another part of Ed’s hot temper.

Turning to the bed, Al sighed before placing the blankets at the feet of the bed. Shaking them out he placed both blankets on his brother’s chest, instead of up to his chin like the nurses had. As he was doing so he made sure to leave his brother’s leg and arm out so that Granny could check up on them, knowing that his brother had most likely hadn’t been taking care of his automail, despite the multiple lectures both Granny and Winry had given him before he left Resembool. Sure enough, he could see the older woman come up from the side and carefully look at the ports and components of his brother’s leg, tsking under her breath before continuing over to the other side of the bed and doing the same to the arm. Grumbling under her breath, which Al was pretty consisted of something about _‘damn kids not listening to their mechanics’_ though he wasn’t sure, before tucking his brother’s arm under the blankets and turning to address the other adult in the room. The armored boy was more focused on resettling to blankets to cover his brother and so he didn’t notice whatever Granny was doing until he heard a loud resounding _slap_ , just as Winry opened the door with the doctor and Lieutenant Hawkeye behind her.

Winry and the doctor gasped. The Lieutenant pulled her gun, instinct for protecting her superior overtaking her while taking a step in front of the child and doctor, protecting them if need be. Al turned and took a protective stance over his brother, while staring incredulously at his Granny. The woman at attention just stood there glaring at the man who she had just rudely woken up, while Colonel Mustang was staring right back at her with his fingers poised to snap at the first hint of trouble. Ed shifted in his sleep.

“What is the meaning of this Ms. Rockbell!” The sniper barked, her gun trained on the small woman.

“Yeah Granny, what is wrong with you?!” Winry asked.

“When Edward left Resembool with you all he was perfectly healthy and your Colonel promised to keep an eye on him for me. As did you if I recall. And now, less than two weeks afterwards he’s lying in a damn hospital bed! Since you were outside, he was the only one who could give me answers!” She explained, her glare at the Colonel not wavering.

“I could have you arrested right now on grounds for assaulting a military officer!” Hawkeye warned.

“Maybe so, but if you do I’ll be sure to tell everyone how the Hero of Ishval and his Lieutenant allowed a twelve year old boy in their charge to get so ill that he needed medical attention and didn’t alert his family until absolutely necessary!” Granny fired back.

“As the Colonel explained when he called you, this illness came out of nowhere-”

“Then you neglected a child! The great Amestris military officials-”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Everyone froze. Colonel Mustang stood up, brushing away imaginary dirt as he did so. He kept his even gaze on the Rockbell matriarch, while signalling to Hawkeye to lower her weapon. Riza did so but kept her weapon by her hip at the ready. Alphonse relaxed as well, but kept an eye on his brother after seeing some restless movements. He rested a hand on his brother’s chest and quietly shushed him, glad to see the movements cease and Ed continued to rest.

“Now,” The Colonel continued, “We can assign blame later once Fullmetal is better, but why don’t we allow the doctor to tell us what is wrong with him?”

All eyes turned to the man in question, who jumped a little at all of the attention. Sure Doctor Kinzo had had tense moments like this before, it couldn’t be helped in his profession. But it wasn’t every day that not only did he have the Hero of Ishval and The Hawk’s Eye staring at him, but there was also a seven foot tall piece of armor with a hand on his patient. Suffice to say he deserved a nice drink once his shift was over.

“W-well,” Doctor Kinzo started shakily, before taking a deep breath and entering the room (though every part of him wanted to flee) and stood at his patient’s bed before continuing, “Based off of his symptoms-severe throwing up, fatigue, the trembling, a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius* and at least one fainting spell if not more-we’ve been able to diagnose that Mr. Elric is suffering from a combination of a severe case of viral gastroenteritis and too much strain to his limbs due to his automail.”

“A viral what?” Came from the young girl in the room.

“It’s the medical name for a stomach virus Winry. Brother has a really bad case of it. But I haven’t heard of any major outbreaks from the newspapers or radios, and I didn’t see any similar looking patients once we entered the hospital. Right Doctor?” Alphonse asked, speaking for the first time since he grabbed the blankets.

The doctor blanched once the armor began to speak. Dear God, was that a _child’s voice_?! “That would be correct sir.”

“Oh that’s not necessary! I’m Alphonse Elric, Edward’s younger brother. But you can just call me Al, and you can just call him Edward too. Believe me, he doesn’t need the title upgrade” 

Of course the person in the armor was his patient’s younger brother, because why not? That’s it, he is having two drinks tonight. “R-right, my apologies. And you are correct, so far Mr. Elric, I mean Edward, is the first reported case so far. Colonel Mustang told us that Edward has been eating his meals at the hotel, and has already given the orders that the kitchens be checked for any contamination. When you add in the reports of the new State Alchemist spending his first day of the job remaking a fallen building, minor rumors going around of other patch jobs along his way, plus the sorry state his automail is in, it’s no real wonder that Edward became so sick.”

Silence followed the doctor’s explanation, with everyone digesting it. While the adults all thought of what they could’ve done to possibly prevent what happened, Alphonse and Winry focused on Ed. His breathing was still very labored, and the sweat had accumulated again. Alphonse quickly wiped it away with the small hand towel, before noticing that the small but constant _drip, drip, drip_ that had continued since their small group had entered seemed to have stopped. But before he could say something a nurse bustled into the room, completely ignoring everything that was going on as she replaced the bags hanging from his brother’s IV bag. His attention was diverted once Winry spoke up.

“Doctor? Is there anything we can do to make Ed feel better?”

“Well young lady, other than giving him some medication and fluids to keep him hydrated, sadly no. Though I’m sure having all of you here to support him is helping, even on a subconscious level. We can only simply wait for him to wake up so that he can tell us himself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed it! For some reason the characterization for this chapter didn't seem as strong, but it was the best I could do without rewriting the whole damn thing and just no. No way lol
> 
> *102 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, sorry if that's not the most accurate conversion in the world, I almost failed Chemistry and Math, plus I'm American so we only use Fahrenheit
> 
> As always, leave a comment or kudos if you can, and let me know about any typos. See you next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed wakes up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So sorry for the long wait time. I had both personal issues going on with my mom's health, plus some work stuff going on. I wrote whenever I could, but this chapter ended up becoming a LOT longer then I was expecting, so many apologies if there is a typo!
> 
> Starting today (7/27) I go on vacation until the 2nd. I might be able to get some writing done but no promises. I really only see one more chapter for this fic, so I will definitely make sure it has a strong ending!
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who has given kudos/commented, you seriously have no idea how much I love them :)
> 
> Oh, and my friend's younger sister is now at the beginning at part 5, so that's going to be fun to watch ;)

~Two days later~

If there was one thing Edward Elric had learned from performing alchemy’s one true taboo, getting automail _sucked._ Especially once there was a damn storm.

Okay, there was more than just one thing he learned. Honestly, he knew far too well of what the price, or lack thereof, of a human life truly was. That lesson had been driven more into his mind than anything Teacher had shown him and his brother. And the young alchemist knew that even when he did get his brother’s body back-not if, when- he would never forget that lesson, not until the day he died. He would then make it his life mission to make sure no one else had to learn that lesson personally.

_‘Ah dammit...going to be one of_ those _days,’_ Ed thought as he woke up, feeling a deep ache radiating from his arm, accompanied by a peculiar sense of hollowness from his core. He could already tell today was going to be one where what he and Al had done was going to be at the forefront of his mind, where any glance of a woman with chestnut brown hair would make him feel cold and frozen until she was gone from his sight, where he kept his arm and leg covered as much as possible for as long as possible so that he didn’t feel little black tendrils reaching for-

A heavy hand carefully gripped his wrist and a soft voice humming a familiar tune to him, calming him instantly. Slowly he opened his eyes before closing them again once the bright lights from above him aggravated his waning headache, the lights causing the inside of his eyelids a warm orange. He could hear a soft request for _could someone draw the curtains please_ while at the same time a very distinct sound of metal moving to the side, followed by an immediate shadow casting over him. The young Alchemist waited a few extra seconds before opening his eyes and tiredly looking around the room, before blinking rapidly and looking again. Sure he was expecting Lieutenant Riza and Bastard Colonel, but what were Granny and Winry doing in Central? They should’ve been back in Rembool with Al, making sure he was safe and going through all of the books in Hohenheim’s study while Ed started in the libraries, eventually allowing the two to come together with their compiled notes after about a month or so after he passes his tests. Hopefully ending with knowledge of where to get started on the Philosopher's Stone.

Ed opened his mouth to ask where his little brother was, but all that came out was a painful croak. A glass of water came almost immediately, complete with a straw to make it easier for him. After he took a few grateful sips he turned in the direction the glass had come from to thank the holder only to be met with a plate of armor. Freezing Ed slowly looked up and up until he was met with a set of glowing red eyes, wincing when he could ‘see’ the emotion behind them. Ed could deal with a lot of emotions coming from his brother; anger, resignation after a particularly idiotic choice resulting in a fight, even disappointment, and Al knew it too. But no matter what those damn sad-puppy dog eyes his brother had somehow mastered when he wasn’t looking always left him feeling that he had failed somehow.

“Brother, why didn’t you tell anyone you weren’t feeling well? You know we would’ve come right away don’t you? And how important your health is for your automail.” Al asked, his big hand resting gently _next_ to Ed’s arm, knowing how sore his shoulder can get and any touch making it so much worse.

“Yeah!” Came from Winry from her place at the foot of his bed, her hands fisted at her hips, her typical ‘I-am-so-pissed-off-at-you’ glare present. And Ed would swear that he could see a certain wrench peeking out of her bag.“I worked really hard on that automail! You promised when you left you would take care of it!”

Ed shook his head, choosing to ignore his childhood friend for the moment.“I’m sorry Al, I didn’t want to worry you. Besides it wasn’t tha-”

“You better not finish that sentence Fullmetal, unless _you_ want to foot the dry cleaning bill of that hotel room. And my hallway.” Mustang interrupted, sitting on a chair next to the window with one leg resting on the other with his arms crossed, the perfect image of a pissed off commander. 

Ed couldn’t fight the flush that appeared on his cheeks at the reminder of what had happened. “S-Shut up! Like a spot of extra cleaning in that pig-stye you call a house would kill you!”

“Fullmet-”

“Enough you two!” 

Both Alchemists froze as the short woman yelled at them. All of the eyes in the room turned and looked _down._ Granny stared right back, as if daring somebody to speak up without her okay. After a few beats of silence, she breathed a deep sigh, then straightened up and glanced at her two charges.

“Winry, you go get the doctor and let him know Ed is awake. He should be able to tell us more about his recovery now that he is awake. Alphonse I want you to go with her and make sure she doesn’t get lost.” Granny ordered.

“B-But Granny,” Al started, but stopped once Granny stuck a hand up. The armored boy deflated as he nodded before turning to his brother. “I’ll be right back Ed. Try not to get into any trouble okay?”

“Right back at you Al. No following any stray cats you hear me? Just keep an eye on that gearhead for me, okay?” Ed responded, his voice cracking painfully near the end. He coughed to try and cover it up but that just aggravated his sore throat even more.

“What was that you alchemy freak?! Without me you and Granny would still be yelling at each other about your recovery time! Why I oughtta-Al! Put me down now!”

The blonde girl’s complaints echoed in the room and down from the hallway as she was carried away by the young boy. Ed could hear one more curse that, if she had been raised in the city like Central with their strict rules and regulations on ‘respecting your elders’ and ‘children will be seen and not heard’ bullshit, would have gotten Winry a bar of soap in her mouth before the door closed fully. He could see that the Colonel and Lieutenant were shocked at hearing such language come from a young girl like Winry and barely held back a scoff. In Resembool children like him, Al, and Winry, while allowed to play when they wanted, also were taught to help out whenever they could and that often put them around adults who didn’t care if their language was child-appropriate or not. It was seen as a rite of passage once a kid said their first curse word.

_‘Man,’_ he thought, _‘Just wait until they hear her when she fixes on my automail.’_ The image his brain created was almost too ridiculous that he couldn’t help but chuckling which quickly turned into a couple coughs, before grabbing his stomach once the movement irritated it. Damn that was getting annoying.

“And just what is so funny Edward Elric?” Shit, Granny was really pissed if she was using his last name. 

“Nothing Granny.” He replied.

“Mmm-hmm,” She hummed, leveling him with a knowing look, before turning to the Colonel, “Mustang you better get whatever paperwork done so that Ed can take some time to go home and we’ll take care of him from there.”

“Ms. Rockbell-” “Granny-” Both started.

“Hush, I don’t want to hear it from either of you!” She barked, cutting off any arguments. “You were already planning on coming back home about a month from now, might as well make it a little bit earlier. Let Winry and me fix up that leg and arm of yours before you and Alphonse start your research.”

Ed almost couldn’t believe her reasoning. He looked to Mustang for some help, but the man was looking to Hawkeye. The two were having one of those annoying eye conversations adults always had. Dammit, looks like it was up to him to fight this battle, like always.

“But Granny why can’t you fix my automail now, o-or at least enough to last me until the end of the month? All of the information we need is most likely here in Central! I need to get started right away!” Ed tried to argue, hating how childish this all was making him feel. So he got a little sick, big whoop. He finally had access to the best alchemic study materials not offered to the public, with the only true side effect being forced to be at the beck and call of an annoying bastard. As long as he got his job done and got Al his body back who cared what happened to him?

“No Ed! You’re coming back to Resembool whether it be you walking or kicking and screaming.” Granny snapped, before turning a critical eye towards his body. “Though, I might just have Al carry you regardless, since those short legs of yours will take forever going up the hill.” She added, almost to herself. 

The Fullmetal Alchemist bristled. “Who are you calling short you microsoptic hag!”

“You you stubborn inchworm!”

“Don’t be mad at me just because you shrunk!”

“At least I don’t risk getting stepp-”

“Go Ed.” Riza spoke up, staring directly at her superior.

…….

“..What?” Ed asked after a beat of silence. The Lieutenant, while definitely not the submissive female soldier the military tried to make out of _every_ female, typically just relayed whatever order Mustang had given out. (Ed would bet it was her way of making sure that the Colonel would have no excuse but to get his paperwork done.) But, based off of the resigned look on the man’s face as he crossed his fingers and set his chin on them, it seemed that this decision was made by the sniper and they all might as well go along with it.

“Go back home Ed. Ms. Rockbell was right two days ago when she said that this incident was partly our fault. We were entrusted with your safety once you left Resembool and look at where we are now. So you are to go home and get your rest, decide on what your next step is going to be. No,“ she put her hand up, stopping the argument coming from the young man before it could start, “this is not a dismissal from the team. You will still have to answer any calls or orders that come in, this is just some time for you to recover and make sure you are ready in case anything happens and we need you.”

“And,” Mustang spoke up, looking at him, “we will reach out through our contacts for any news on the philosopher’s stone, so I want you to concentrate on getting better alright? That is an order from your superior Fullmetal.”

Ed tensed, wanting to fight against this order that would _slow_ his progress. He was about to launch in a tirade ( _painful coughs be damned_ ) before taking a second to take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds and breathe out. It was something Al had tried to teach him in that past couple months once they had the date for his test, because even Ed could admit his temper was... _volatile_ to say the least. And it was better for their future intentions if Ed didn’t completely piss off _all_ of the important military officials before they realized how good he was. After taking another second to think it through, he nodded respectfully, completing it with a resounding ‘Yes Sir. And he couldn’t help the small smirk once he saw the shocked expression on all of the adults faces.

“I have to admit Fullmetal, I was expecting a much bigger fight from you.”

“Yeah Brother! You've gotten a lot better at controlling your anger, I'm so proud of you!” Alphonse’s bright voice rang out.

The occupants of the room all jumped as the door opens, revealing the armored boy and Winry, accompanied by an older man who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else than where he was. While Al and Winry both walked into the room with ease, the older man had more caution, leaving a wide berth between himself and Al that rubbed Ed in the wrong way. He couldn’t help the glare that followed the man as he walked to the end of the bed and grabbed the clipboard hanging from it.

“Hello Edward, I’m Dr. Kinzo. Can you tell me how you’re feeling today?” He asked, as a nurse came in. She grabs a thermometer from one of the cabinets and gives it to the alchemist once his mouth opened.

“I’m fine.” Ed replied bluntly, though the words came out a little muffled due to the medical instrument comically protruding out of his mouth.

“Really? No coughing, stomach ache, fatigue? It’s important that you tell either me or one of the nurses if you’re not feeling so well.” The man continue to question as he put his stethoscope against Ed’s chest and listened to his breathing and heart, making sure to be cautious around the boy’s scars from his automail surgery.

“Dammit I said I’m fi-”

“Ed…” Granny said in a warning tone, giving him a pointed look.

“Ugh, fine! Look I’ve coughed a couple of times, nothing too major-”

“ _Fullmetal._ ”

“A few times and my stomach hurts. And I’m a little bit tired too.” He answered honestly, deciding to not press his luck with the adults in the room. He released the thermometer once prompted and saw the nurse write something in his folder, though for what he wasn't sure. 

“Hmm, well that is to be expected after such an illness like this. In all honesty I was expecting you to be feeling much worse. Guess someone is looking out for you, huh?” Dr Kinzo said jokingly, smiling wryly at the young alchemist.

_‘Right, like Truth would give two shits if I wasn’t feeling well. Hell, if I had died damn bastard would’ve made me pay the toll again!’_

“Hey Colonel!” Winry interjected, her eyes wide open in fake innocence. “Did you or Lieutenant Riza ever find out what made Ed so sick?”

“Lieutenant, what does the most recent report say?”

“Sir,” the sniper replied, continuing “there was a small amount of cross-contamination dealing with some of the meat used in the cafeteria in the hotel. There has been an order for a complete and thorough cleaning of the kitchen’s cooking materials, plus the refrigeration and freezer where they stored the meat. On top of that, there is going to be an investigation into the butcher shop owned by a man named Barry that the kitchen ordered from. I'm certain he will give us some insight on how this happened." 

“In fact, we’ve had a couple more cases like yours come in to the hospital in the last couple days." Dr Kinzo said, jotting down some numbers before putting away his instruments. "Grown men who are far larger than you acting like complete children, demanding this and that, pulling rank whenever something doesn’t go their way. Who knew a kid would act tougher than trained soldiers!” The doctor laughed heartily, seemingly oblivious to the icy glare he was receiving from his patient.

“Who the hell are you calling short you ass-”

“And how soon would you say we could bring Ed home Doctor?” Granny asked, cutting off Ed’s rant.

The doctor hummed a little under his breath as he reviewed the information jotted down on the clipboard, flipping a couple pages before setting it back down. He and the nurse quietly consulted between the two, before apparently settling on a decision.

“We would like for Ed to stay another day or so for observation. Depending on his condition I would recommend at least a week of no military work and limited use of his alchemy, until he starts to get stronger. I will also ask to speak with his main mechanic on a game plan to make sure their work doesn’t impede on his health. Once I have that conversation and put together my notes, I’m certain there will be no trouble allowing him to go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! Ed can finally go home and deal with the mother hen that is his brother lol. Hope it was worth the wait!
> 
> The next chapter will most likely be a combined last chapter and then an epilogue of sort, so definitely look forward to that!
> 
> As always, give a kudos and a compliment as long as you can, and let me know if there are any typos
> 
> Until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> So there it is. Hope it wasn't too bad lol
> 
> May or may not make it a series, not sure


End file.
